This is the second column by activist Omar Henriquez looking at immigrant participation in the Occupy Wall Street movement.

I walked toward Zuccotti Park by way of Greenwich Street, passing the famous St. Paul churchyard, the one unscathed by the terrorist attack.

Right at the corner of Church and Liberty, a police crane was positioned. On top of it, a cubicle with tinted windows, constantly monitoring, filming and taking pictures.

It was October 4, and the police presence was everywhere, except inside the park. The infamous NYPD white shirts and the metal barricades stood out, but they didn’t stop the occupiers from undertaking their daily marches and actions.

It was inspiring to see the resolve of the occupiers, young people not intimidated by the police, or anything, really.

Just a few days earlier, about 700 protesters were arrested as they were marching across the Brooklyn Bridge. The result: Even more people came and joined the protest after that.

I first walked around the park, just observing and absorbing everything. I saw and read signs, lots of signs.

People were just sitting or standing around the park’s perimeter, holding the signs, talking to each other, engaging people in conversations about why they were there.

As I was wrapping up my second time going around the park, I heard someone shouting “mic check, mic check” and then saw people gathering around the person who had shouted.

What happened next is what happens each time someone wants to address the people. Cornell West, Michael Moore, and the rest, all have to rely on this method.

Since there are no mics, bullhorns, or sound system permitted in the park, the “mic check” is elicited. When attention is given, the speaker begins to talk in short sentences. The crowd then repeats everything the speaker had said, thus amplifying the sound, making it easy for other people to hear what’s being said or discussed.

Very ingenious, I thought. Another example of how the occupiers were dealing with any shortcomings or obstacles thrown their way.

Inside one of the park’s corner, where Liberty and Broadway meet, I noticed lots of books, and then I read the sign, “The People’s Library,” where people were reading and talking. I later met Erick, one of the movement’s librarians.

I had been at the park for close to five hours, and had already spoken to lots of people. Some were the original occupiers, others just supporters, and yet others just plain people, seeing how they could help and get involved.

I recalled Bryan, a young man in his early twenties. He had been there since the beginning. I was impressed by his commitment and world knowledge. He was my first contact and provided me with the answers to my questions.

I was well aware of the relentless media efforts to get the occupiers to state their demands, purpose, goals, message, and the like.

After conversing with Bryan it became perfectly clear to me. He told me what I have and everyone else involved in this movement been repeating since, “We are the 99,” meaning I am part of the 99 percent that have less than the top 1 percent.

Hauppauge—Suffolk County Executive-Elect Steve Bellone will hold a press conference this Thursday at 11:30am in the Plaza of the H. Lee Dennison Building to make major announcements about his transition process. He will be joined by the co-directors of his Transition Team.

Suffolk County Executive-elect Steve Bellone on Thursday will name Babylon Town Board member Antonio Martinez and attorney Regina Calcaterra to lead his transition effort, party sources said Wednesday.

Bellone has scheduled an 11:30 a.m. news conference in the lobby of the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge to announce the transition's co-directors. He also is expected to detail plans for a community forum on the economy in Melville on Monday, and another on diversity issues on Tuesday in Brentwood -- part of an effort to determine public opinion on a variety of issues.

The transition leaders will help vet potential appointees. The transition will set up a website -- suffolkcountyworksforyou.com -- to take resumes and gather policy ideas.

Calcaterra, 45, who was raised in Centereach, is managing partner of the Manhattan law firm Barrack, Rodos and Bacine, where she has worked for public pension funds in cases involving corporate fraud, including a successful effort to recoup $6 billion from WorldCom for the state retirement fund. Last year, she sought to run against state Sen. Kenneth LaValle(R-Port Jefferson), but a court knocked off her the ballot because she had not lived in the district for the required five years.

Martinez, 42, of Wheatley Heights, was born in El Salvador and has been a town board member since 2008. Before his election, he was an organizer for the Empire State Regional Council of Carpenters.

As Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone began readying himself for his new job as SuffolkCounty executive, speculation mounted Wednesday about who would fill his town shoes.

One of the most surprising names being tossed around is the man credited with helping Bellone get elected to the county post: former Babylon Supervisor and current Suffolk Democratic Chairman Richard Schaffer.

Schaffer said several people have approached him about throwing his name into the hat, but that he was still "mulling it over." In 2000, Schaffer briefly expressed interest in Rick Lazio's congressional seat, a move many speculated was intended to buy time and avoid a primary run-off between David Bishop and Steve Israel.

Several others have expressed interest in the supervisor slot. Among the leading contenders appears to be Legis. WayneHorsley (D-Babylon).

Horsley, a former town board member, said no one has spoken to him in an official capacity about the position, but that he gets asked about it "10 or 15 times a day." "If they're interested in me, I'm interested in them," he said.

Legis. DuWayne Gregory (D-Amityville) said he too was interested in being supervisor, but was deferring to Horsley. "Wayne's a friend and I support him," he said.

Bob Stricoff, head of the Babylon Democrats, said another top contender is Babylon Town board member Tony Martinez. Martinez, a Bellone appointee to the board in July 2008 who won election in November 2008, said he was happy in his current role but open to change.

According to town law, the town board must appoint a new supervisor, but can only do so once the spot is vacant, which will likely be Jan. 1, unless Bellone decides to vacate early. A majority of the four board votes is required for the appointment. If a majority is achieved, the appointment lasts until the next Election Day. If the board deadlocks, the governor can step in and require a special election, and the Deputy Supervisor would serve as acting supervisor.

The last time the town board appointed a supervisor was in September 1992 when supervisor Arthur Pitts resigned to take a judgeship and deputy supervisor Thomas Melito was appointed acting supervisor. Schaffer, then a Suffolk legislator, was elected supervisor less than two months later.

Steve Levy is not on today's ballot. That evokes mixed emotions, from relief -- a long sigh and a feeling that it's time for the years of constant combat to end -- to sadness.

In 2007, Levy was not only on the ballot, but on five party lines, including both the Democrats and the Republicans. So he won re-election as Suffolk County executive with 96.09 percent of the vote. The joke was that he was anxious to learn the identity of the wayward 4 percent.

But it wasn't just a joke. Levy loved his soaring approval ratings, the product of his image as the skinflint-in-chief, ever vigilant over the public purse, and the valiant leader, ready to fight fearlessly against the scourge of higher taxation.

The operative word is fight.

Levy felt that his scrappy style was necessary, and that voters appreciated it. But that eagerness for combat -- the Police Benevolent Association was a favorite target, but the enemies list is long -- exhausted nearly everyone around him: his adversaries across the street in the legislature, his staff, and his former staff.

Now, he's off the ballot and on his way out the door. That is the culmination of a breathtaking cascade of events. Last year, he switched from Democrat to Republican, to run for governor, but didn't win the nomination. This year, with his fundraising practices under investigation, he reached an agreement with Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota not only not to run for re-election, but also to give to Spota his $4-million-plus campaign fund -- to give back to contributors.

Now, at 52, after more than a quarter-century in public office in Hauppauge and Albany, he'll be out of a job. From now until Jan. 1, attention will shift from him to his successor. And Levy, a lawyer with zero zest for practicing law, will find it tough to get another public sector job from either major party.

Leaving the Democratic Party burned a big bridge there. Faced with the rumors of Levy's plan to switch parties, the county chairman, Rich Schaffer, recalls saying to him: "Make sure you're the guy who tells me you're doing it. I don't want to hear it from a reporter." But Schaffer did find out about the switch from a reporter, Newsday's Rick Brand -- in the middle of the night.

As for Republicans, many had disliked Levy so much as a Democrat that it was tough to break the habit. The county chairman, John Jay LaValle, backed him. But then LaValle decided he had to turn over to Spota $100,000 in campaign funds that Levy had given the GOP. In announcing it, LaValle said that " . . . it was unfair of Mr. Levy to give such a contribution, knowing it would necessarily taint the party."

So what does Levy do now? One option he has discussed is a think tank. But he has created so many bipartisan animosities that he might generate more revenue by becoming the main attraction at a dunk tank.

His former political leader believes Levy's addiction to political combat has seriously damaged his prospects. "I don't see him having a bright future; I don't," Schaffer said. "And I do feel bad, because he's good on a bunch of different levels. But this personality defect is what has been his downfall."

The other great stain on Levy's tenure was his over-the-top immigration rhetoric. He said it was directed only at illegal immigrants, but its impact went beyond them. His language and his legislative efforts did zilch to address a complex problem of national scope, but his ill-considered words added heat to an inflamed situation.

Still, the mix of emotions, beyond schadenfreude, does include sadness. Levy flew high in politics, overreached and fell painfully. Now he has to find a future in the only arena he really knows, but he's a man without a party. It is, by any reasonable definition of the word, sad.

Last week's Suffolk County executive debate at Central Islip High School was billed as historic. And it was.

The debate between Angie Carpenter, the county treasurer, and Steve Bellone, theBabylon town supervisor, was the first in the heart of a mostly minority community between candidates seeking the county's top elected post.

"It's hard to believe it's never happened before," said Assemb. Philip Ramos(D-Brentwood), Long Island's sole Latino representative in the State Assembly, as he stood in the lobby with residents who would go on to fill almost two-thirds of the 1,000-seat capacity auditorium.

The debate was longer than the season's other debates. And it looked different, with Carpenter and Bellone sharing the stage with debate moderators and 13 questioners, most of them local residents.

The debate went well beyond the usual political discussion of Suffolk's tight budget and high property taxes to issues -- including gangs, immigrant farmworker visas and building local businesses -- that resonate among many minorities and immigrants, the fastest growing populations on Long Island.

"Some of the issues we talked about have never been talked about publicly before," Mohammad Irfan, a Pakistani-American, said after the debate.

"As a Muslim, it was important to hear what the candidates had to say about anti-Muslim acts," Irfan said. "As an American, I want to see how well they pick up so many apples and carry them around in one basket."

Bellone and Carpenter, in separate interviews, said they jumped at the chance to debate at the high school.

"I was glad to see so many young people out there," Carpenter said. "That was important to me."

Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, said Carpenter and Bellone showed character and foresight by debating in the community.

"Character because they went into a community where issues, like public safety, have piled up," Levy said. "Foresight because both candidates recognize that the residents they govern increasingly are immigrants and people of color."

"This is the new reality," said Michael Dawidziak, a political consultant who handles mostlyRepublican candidates. "And this debate could become historic with a capital H -- if, down the line, the community becomes an essential stop for debates in future campaigns."

The debate also successfully pulled together a collection of residents and organizations that, separately, have different goals. Among the groups: Service Employees International Union1199, Haitian Americans United for Change, the Long Island Farm Bureau, Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth, the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, NAACP, the Long Island Immigrant Alliance and the Pakistani American Association.

"Hopefully, the debate signals the beginning of something better for Long Island," said William Cunningham, who, during a wildly unsuccessful primary run against then-Assemb.Steve Levy in 2003, was jeered and taunted with obscenities when he suggested opening a hiring hall as a way to help ease tensions between residents and Latino day laborers.

"Things are better now than they were then," Cunningham said, "but with so many different people coming from so many different places, we've still got a ways to go."

jueves, 3 de noviembre de 2011

Silvana Diaz is publisher of the Long Island Spanish-language newspaper Noticia, which is co-hosting a county executive debate at 7 tonight at Central Islip High School with the Long Island Civic Engagement Table and Long Island Wins.

This evening at 7 there will be a groundbreaking political dialogue on Long Island: The candidates for Suffolk County executive will meet to talk about how to strengthen our diverse communities, fielding questions from residents representing a wide range of community groups.

Long Island is famous for many things: its beaches, its pizza and its family-friendly lifestyle. It's also famous for less savory reasons, like the historic segregation that still factors prominently into most of our lives: black neighborhoods, white neighborhoods, Latino neighborhoods, and the inequalities and tensions that come with them. The 2008 killing of Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorean immigrant, brought these tensions into stark relief.

For far too long, politicians have ignored the range of diverse voices on Long Island, but it's time for that to change. According to 2010 census data, about one of every four Suffolk County residents is Latino or African-American. It's time for communities of color to make our voices heard, and this debate represents an opportunity to do that.

The debate is being organized by the Long Island Civic Engagement Table, a new nonpartisan initiative to promote civic participation; Long Island Wins, an organization focused on immigration issues; and Noticia, the Spanish-language weekly newspaper I own and publish. In many ways, my family's story and that of Noticia are directly related to the growing diversity on Long Island.

When my family immigrated legally to the United States from Peru in 1989, my parents struggled to find their professional niche. Like many other immigrants, they faced language barriers and did not fully understand Long Island's complex system of local government.

Despite the challenges of acclimating to a new country, they held fast to their goal of achieving the American dream. Back home in Peru, they had worked in the media, and they saw a need for more Spanish-language news on Long Island. So they launched Noticia in 1991 from their one-bedroom apartment in Hempstead. In 2009, my sister and I took control of the paper, which had become a vital voice for my community on Long Island.

I had worked in local government and with not-for-profit organizations, so I'd witnessed the struggles of communities of color and the lesser resources being allocated to those communities. I knew that Noticia alone wouldn't be able to change the world, but it could help push for social justice here at home.

This evening's debate is the clearest expression of that mission thus far. At bottom, democracy is about citizens electing their representatives and holding them accountable for defending the interests of their communities. For too long in Suffolk's communities of color, there has been a vicious cycle of disengagement and low accountability: Voters remain detached because representatives neglect their needs, and representatives continue neglecting their needs because voters are inactive. The clearest evidence of this disengagement is that voter turnout among African-Americans and Latinos in Suffolk consistently pales in comparison to that of their white counterparts.

This debate represents a first step toward breaking the cycle. By putting the candidates for county executive face to face with members of Suffolk's diverse communities -- including representatives of groups like the NAACP, the Long Island Immigrant Alliance and the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce -- we will demonstrate the power of the democratic ideals of participation and truly representative government. It's time to begin a new chapter in the political life of our communities.